"AN ACT PROHIBITING THE SALE AND TRADE OF IVORY AND RHINOCEROS HORN. "

Strike everything after the enacting clause and substitute the following in lieu thereof:

"Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2016) (a) For the purposes of this section:

(1) "Ivory" means any tooth or tusk, or any part thereof, that is composed of ivory from any elephant or mammoth or any piece thereof, regardless of whether such tooth or tusk is raw ivory, worked ivory or made into or part of an ivory product;

(2) "Ivory product" means any item that contains or that is wholly or partially made from ivory;

(3) "Raw ivory" means any ivory with a surface that is unaltered or minimally changed by carving;

(4) "Rhinoceros horn" means the horn, or any piece thereof, of any species of rhinoceros;

(5) "Rhinoceros horn product" means any item that contains, or is wholly or partially made from, any rhinoceros horn;

(6) "Total value" means the fair market value or the actual price paid, whichever is greater; and

(7) "Worked ivory" means ivory that is embellished, carved, marked, or otherwise altered so that it is no longer raw ivory.

(b) No person shall import, sell, offer for sale, purchase, barter or possess with the intent to sell, any ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product, except: (1) When such import is expressly authorized by a federal license or permit, (2) if such ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product is less than twenty per cent, by volume, of a bone fide antique with a provenance, established by documented proof, that shows such antique to be one hundred years old or older, (3) if such ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product was made a part of a musical instrument and such musical instrument was made on or before December 31, 1975, (4) if such person is an employee or agent of the federal or state government and is undertaking any law enforcement activity pursuant to federal or state law or any mandatory duty required by federal or state law, (5) the transfer of possession of such ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product to a legal beneficiary upon the death of the owner of the ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product or in anticipation of such owner's death and such owner did not gain ownership of such ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product in violation of this section, or (6) such import, offer, purchase, barter or possession is for a bona fide educational, conservatorial or scientific purpose at a university, museum or hospital, respectively, and such purpose is not otherwise prohibited by federal law.

(c) Prima facie evidence of possession with intent to sell ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn, or rhinoceros horn product shall include, but not be limited to, the possession of such ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product in a retail or wholesale location that is commonly used for the buying or selling of animal-derived products. Obtaining an appraisal of ivory, an ivory product, rhinoceros horn or a rhinoceros horn product shall not constitute possession with intent to sell.

(d) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall: (1) For the first offense, be guilty of a class B misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars or an amount equal to two times the total value of the subject ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product, whichever is greater, and (2) for a second or any subsequent offense, be guilty of a class B misdemeanor and fined not less than five thousand dollars or an amount equal to two times the total value of the subject ivory, ivory products, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product.

(e) At the time of arrest for the alleged violation of the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the court shall order the seizure of the subject ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product. Following any conviction, the subject ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn or rhinoceros horn product shall be donated to an educational, conservatorial or scientific institution or organization including, but not limited to, a museum, university or hospital.

Sec. 2. Section 26-304 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):

As used in sections 22a-2, 23-5c, 23-74, 23-75, 26-40c, 26-40d, 26-40f and 26-303 to [26-315] 26-314, inclusive:

(1) "Department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection;

(2) "Conserve" and "conservation" mean to use all methods and procedures necessary to maintain or increase the populations of any endangered or threatened species to the point at which the provisions of sections 22a-2, 23-5c, 23-74, 23-75, 26-40c, 26-40d, 26-40f and 26-303 to [26-315] 26-314, inclusive, are no longer necessary, including, but not limited to, all activities associated with resources management, such as research, census, monitoring, regulation and law enforcement, habitat acquisition, restoration and maintenance, propagation, live trapping, transplantation and regulated taking;

(3) "Wildlife" means all species of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals [which] that are wild by nature and parts thereof;

(4) "Plants" means any member of the plant kingdom and parts thereof;

(5) "Native" means any species indigenous to this state;

(6) "Species" means any species, subspecies, or variety of animal or plant, and includes any distinct population segment of any animal or plant;

(7) "Endangered species" means any native species documented by biological research and inventory to be in danger of extirpation throughout all or a significant portion of its range within the state and to have no more than five occurrences in the state, and any species determined to be an "endangered species" pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act;

(8) "Threatened species" means any native species documented by biological research and inventory to be likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range within the state and to have no more than nine occurrences in the state, and any species determined to be a "threatened species" pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act, except for such species determined to be endangered by the commissioner in accordance with section 26-306;

(9) "Species of special concern" means any native plant species or any native nonharvested wildlife species documented by scientific research and inventory to have a naturally restricted range or habitat in the state, to be at a low population level, to be in such high demand by man that its unregulated taking would be detrimental to the conservation of its populations or has been extirpated from the state;

(10) "Endangered Species Act" means the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Public Law 93-205, as amended from time to time;

(11) "Take" or "taking" mean to capture, collect, destroy, harm, hunt, kill, pursue, shoot, trap, snare, net, possess, transport, remove, sell or offer for sale, export or import or to attempt to engage in any such conduct or any act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take such native wildlife and native plants whether or not such act results in capture or collection;

(12) "Essential habitat" means the geographic area which contains those physical or biological features which are identifiable and have been demonstrated as being decisive to the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species and includes, but is not limited to, significant areas used for courtship, mating, and other reproductive activities, rearing of young, feeding and shelter of endangered and threatened species;

(13) "Destruction or adverse modification of essential habitat" means any activity that significantly alters, pollutes, impairs, degrades, damages, destroys or otherwise reduces the ability of the habitat to sustain populations of endangered or threatened species;

(14) "Threaten the continued existence" means to engage in any action that reduces appreciably the likelihood of the survival and recovery of an endangered or threatened species in the wild by reducing the reproduction, numbers, or distribution of such species;

(15) "Occurrence" means a population of a species breeding and existing within the same ecological community and capable or potentially capable of interbreeding with other members of that species within that community.

Sec. 3. Section 26-315 of the general statutes is repealed. (Effective July 1, 2016)"